Part XIV: Follow The White Rabbit
Sigma resumed his work on Bit. Since the O Inary was able to be separated from him, Sigma used that to attack X and Zero while he had time to upgrade his lieutenant. According to the information brought back from the assault, Sigma knew that X, Zero, and all their little friends had been disposed of.
Putting one more piece onto Bit's new armor, Sigma activated a function within himself. Every single Maverick's energy was a part of the virus, and therefore their memory circuits were no longer necessary. Sigma could revive any of his followers if need be, although he never had seen the use in doing that, save for Vile and now Bit. Transferring Bit's memory to the new body, Sigma stepped back as the eyes began to glow bright green, subsiding into the normal color that Bit held before he was destroyed.
Sitting up, the robot glanced around.
"What the heck is going on here, and who are you?" he asked, British accent fluctuating from anger.
Sigma walked back up to the table. "It's me, Bit. Sigma."
Concentrating a few seconds, Bit realized that the robot in front of him was telling the truth. Granted the body wasn't what Sigma typically inhabited, it did have an air about it.
"What is going on here, though?"
"Very good question, Bit. I was only recently released from containment. It's four hundred years in the future. X and Zero were going to be a problem but I was able to harness the O Inary inside of you and attack them. They've been kicked out of the picture, and we can begin to stage the ultimate plan to dominate this world."
"You don't mean..."
"Yes, Bit. I mean exactly what you're thinking. The plans for the ultimate reploid warrior have been unearthed, and I expect to build it."
Bit hopped down off the table and began walking around. "Alright, Sigma, but what do you think is going to be the feasibility of this? I mean, do we have the resources? The space? The-"
"It's all been taken care of."
Bit laughed. "Good. What, may I ask, is to be done about Byte?"
Sigma shook his head. "Byte was completely destroyed. There's no way to revive him."
"Well, that's all the better. I'm more powerful than he was anyway."
"Especially now that you've been upgraded. O Inary has been reintegrated with you, but it has another form now. Version 2.0 is able to be accessed now."
Bit's eyes widened. Version 2.0 was only on the drawing boards when he was defeated by X. It had no time to be installed. This was great!
"The Hunters won't know what hit them," he said, smirking below his shielded mouth.
Zero stood up again. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. Sure, there was enough of an energy signature to let him know that X and the others were closeby, but there was no way to physically ascertain that.
"X?" he asked, glancing around.
"Yeah, Zero? Where are you?" X voice rebounded from somewhere in the dark.
"Is Echo near you? We need some light in here."
Echo had heard him, since the room instantly lighted itself from her arm cannon.
"You were saying?" she answered, taking in the surroundings.
There had been a teleportation system in play when everything had disappeared, and now the room they were in was clean, and Rock and the others were just beginning to stir back to life. In fact, X's predecessor was the first to stand.
"You," he said, pointing at Zero. "What do you want with us?"
"I don't want anything with you, Rock. Dr. Light explained everything to me. I was under the influence of a virus. It's gone now."
He seemed to accept that, and calmed down Roll, Proto, and Bass when they awoke.
X crossed his arms. "Alright, now how did we get here?"
Again, a light began emanating from a nearby terminal and Dr. Light's hologram appeared.
Rock was astounded. "What's going on?"
Dr. Light spoke to his second creation. "Rock, it's alright. X and Zero have been able to wake you and everyone else just perfectly. You're in 25XX now. There's been a lot that's happened since you first saw X and Zero fight each other. They need your help to eradicate the Sigma Virus. It's caused massive amounts of destruction and chaos, and although they've been able to fight it off, I fear that the coming battle will be more taxing than any before. With your help, they may be able to get rid of it, once and for all."
"But how are you talking to us? I thought Zero killed you."
"He didn't kill me. I was knocked into the vacuum containment system and trapped inside the computer systems. That's how I've survived all these years and was able to give X upgrades from time to time."
Gate was a little harder to convince. "How could you upgrade X from within the computer systems?"
"X, show him."
Immediately, a light flashed from Dr. Light's most advanced robot and he donned the Dash Armor he'd used on his first mission.
"See, Gate," X said, quickly switching to the Crush, Charge, Gold, Nova, Falcon, Gaia, Blade, Shadow, and Strike Armors. "I was upgraded."
The scientist snubbed his nose at the gesture. Turning back to Dr. Light, Rock needed some answers.
"But how can we help them? We're nowhere near as powerful as they are."
"I understand that, Rock. That is why I have been preparing a new set of armor upgrades for all of you. Unfortunately, I need more time to get every one of the armors completed, but at this time I've finished the Hyper Armor. Because of the differences between X's, Rock's, and Proto's systems and Zero's and Bass', I made sure to design two different variants that would be compatible and still provide the same benefits."
"What does it do?" Rock asked, mirroring the expression on the faces of the others.
"Well, Rock, every piece performs a different function. The leg enhancements allow a power dash that engulfs the user in energy and can be used as a weapon as well as being able to perform a multi-directional air dash and higher jumping capacity. The chest armor allows you to absorb energy from your enemies to perform the power dash or to fire a super-charged plasma shot. The cannon upgrade creates a plasma beam that can be fired as either a blast or a rapid-fire ricocheting weapon. And finally, the helmet allows the user to become invisible to radar scans."
"How do we equip it, though?" he asked.
"All you have to do, Rock, is place your hands on the levers on the terminal. Proto, you and X need to grab the levers on the sides of Rock."
Taking hold of the bars, the three robots began to feel new energy flow into their systems. Their external armor began improving itself, and changed color. Chest armor materialized on X, Rock, and Proto, as well as spiked helmets and larger arm cannons. Their leg armor changed to white, along with the rest of the armor. Gold and silver lines ran along the armor in various places, and Proto's shield was altered into a stronger metal and angular shape.
"Wow," Rock said, looking down at himself. "This is amazing."
"You and Proto now have an equal amount of plasmatics in your arm cannons. Now, Zero and Bass, step up to the terminal and take your upgrades."
Bass was unsure. "Why should I take an upgrade from you?"
Dr. Light stared at him. "Bass, I know that you were built by Wily, and that your brain tells you not to trust me, but Wily is gone and you all are in great danger. I know that with your help, the others can destroy the Sigma Virus and the onslaught that it will bring with it."
"Fine."
"There is only one thing, Bass," Dr. Light continued. "You and Rock both have the ability to bond with Rush and Treble. That ability was taken into consideration, and two programs were designed for both of you. One of them allows Rush or Treble to become a bike-like vehicle, and the other gives them the ability to independently fire upgraded weaponry. In any case, you cannot bond with them until after you activate the Armor. Otherwise, it will not work."
"Alright."
Zero was the first to latch onto the bars, followed by Bass. The energy upgrade brought the same sort of chest armor, arm cannon power, leg enhancements and stealth capabilities that Rock, X, and Proto had gained. The difference, however, was that Bass' signature helmet crests were made stronger and pointed. Zero's helmet gained two spikes to each side of the forehead crystal he had, as well as the length reaching down to his neck instead of his chin.
"Zero, your saber has been enhanced as well. You can perform the spinning razor attack now. It allows plasma to erupt from the saber and fire toward the enemy."
Zero nodded, and stepped back from the terminal. The good doctor wasn't finished.
"Rock, you and Bass both have previously acquired weapons that have been stored in the database of my systems. Here, take them to use once more."
Two spheres of energy came from the screen. The blue one merged with Rock, while the black one adhered itself to Bass.
"Good luck, all of you," Light said, and vanished from sight, leaving them in silence.
Bass turned to Rock. "You know, one thing I've never understood..."
"What?"
He pointed to his now-white former enemy. "You have hair, and I don't. And Proto has hair. Now, I hate Wily, but did he do that on purpose or something to be cruel?"
X sighed. "Bass, I've got hair too."
Removing his helmet, it seemed as though a taller, leaner version of Rock was standing right next to Zero. They had almost the same bushy brown locks and everything. It was creepy. If Proto had taken his head gear off as well, the only difference he'd have with the other two was that he was red.
"Now this really isn't fair. Wily built Zero also, and he's got hair," he said, swiveling around to face his stronger descendent.
Zero was shocked. "You call this hair?!"
Grabbing the helmet and raising it up, Zero easily proved that the assumption Bass had just made was entirely false. Sure, there was a lock of hair, but it was attached to the back of the helmet. Underneath the helmet was just Zero's neural circuitry.
"Never mind."
"Good. Glad to clear that up," Zero answered. "So how do we get outta here now?"
Rock scratched his head. "I vaguely remember this place. Dr. Light once had us take a tour of the underground computer network, and I think I can find my way out if I get the chance."
"Wait, Rock!" a small voice came from behind. The pitch was incredibly strange, and fluctuated in odd ways.
"Fliptop?" Rock said, kneeling down as the little red transport robot ran to him and jumped into his arms. "What are you doing here?"
X began slipping away from Rock and Fliptop, and closer to Zero. "Is it just me or does that thing give you the creeps?"
Zero nodded, eyes as wide as his partner's. "Yeah, a little bit."
Zero looked down the corridor for a second time. Rock had been leading them all around in circles for the last few minutes, and the usually-red Hunter was getting seriously irked.
"I could find a faster way outta here!" he exclaimed, drawing his saber.
Bass nodded. "Yeah, listen to the guy with the man breasts!"
Zero shot a look at his ancestor. "For the last time, they are energy nodes! Do I make myself clear?"
Gulping, Bass backed up a tad. "Sure. Perfectly."
That resolved, Zero went back to slinking along with the rest of the group toward a nearby emergency escape shaft adjacent to the one they'd fallen into to begin with. Luckily, it still had a working lift in it.
"Alright, everyone," Rock said, "pile in."
Stuffing themselves into the same small compartment, Bass and Zero were pushed to the back wall. The black robot was smirking and trying to suppress his hysterical laughing.
Zero crossed his arms and glared at Bass. "Just what is so funny?"
"I dunno. Did Wily hate you for some reason or something? I mean, why else would he make a male robot that needs a bra-"
His heckling was stopped when Zero grabbed Bass by the throat and slammed him against the wall of the car.
"I told you to shut up."
"Can you put me down?" Bass managed, vocals held down by Zero's strong skeletal torque.
"Alright, but only if you promise not to do that again."
"I swear," Bass replied, holding up his hand. "Scout's honor."
Letting him go, Zero backed up to where X was. Bass rubbed his neck, working his voice back to normal.
"So what size are they? A, B cup?"
Zero began to leap forward, but X and Rock were able to move quickly enough and grab the Hunter's arms to restrain him.
"Oh, c'mon X. Let me hurt him. You heard what he said."
"I don't that'd be wise, Zero. I really don't."
"I don't care X. I'm gonna kill him. And then I'm gonna kill him some more."
"Zero, think. What is a little off about Bass' appearance?" X whispered, making sure nobody else heard him.
Zero calmed down, and straightened back to normal posture. Observing Bass, he noticed the most obvious feature of his armor-the two huge crests on his head.
"No offense, Zero, but I know a few people that could recommend some really good lingerie shops. You should take a look. Buy some for your girlfriend there, and maybe some for yourself," Bass continued, chortling.
Zero crossed his arms. "Nice advice coming from someone whose head looks like a 1957 Cadillac."
Bass' eyes widened.
"Yeah, how's the mileage on your head? I bet it must be high, you've been asleep so long."
"Stop it," Bass snapped under his breath.
"Yeah, and maybe once I get that bra you were saying I need, I could string it over one of your fins and you wouldn't need any sort of disguise for Halloween. You could go as a pervert."
"Stop it now."
Zero continued taunting the black robot while the elevator slowly rose to the surface.
Sigma resumed his work on Bit. Since the O Inary was able to be separated from him, Sigma used that to attack X and Zero while he had time to upgrade his lieutenant. According to the information brought back from the assault, Sigma knew that X, Zero, and all their little friends had been disposed of.
Putting one more piece onto Bit's new armor, Sigma activated a function within himself. Every single Maverick's energy was a part of the virus, and therefore their memory circuits were no longer necessary. Sigma could revive any of his followers if need be, although he never had seen the use in doing that, save for Vile and now Bit. Transferring Bit's memory to the new body, Sigma stepped back as the eyes began to glow bright green, subsiding into the normal color that Bit held before he was destroyed.
Sitting up, the robot glanced around.
"What the heck is going on here, and who are you?" he asked, British accent fluctuating from anger.
Sigma walked back up to the table. "It's me, Bit. Sigma."
Concentrating a few seconds, Bit realized that the robot in front of him was telling the truth. Granted the body wasn't what Sigma typically inhabited, it did have an air about it.
"What is going on here, though?"
"Very good question, Bit. I was only recently released from containment. It's four hundred years in the future. X and Zero were going to be a problem but I was able to harness the O Inary inside of you and attack them. They've been kicked out of the picture, and we can begin to stage the ultimate plan to dominate this world."
"You don't mean..."
"Yes, Bit. I mean exactly what you're thinking. The plans for the ultimate reploid warrior have been unearthed, and I expect to build it."
Bit hopped down off the table and began walking around. "Alright, Sigma, but what do you think is going to be the feasibility of this? I mean, do we have the resources? The space? The-"
"It's all been taken care of."
Bit laughed. "Good. What, may I ask, is to be done about Byte?"
Sigma shook his head. "Byte was completely destroyed. There's no way to revive him."
"Well, that's all the better. I'm more powerful than he was anyway."
"Especially now that you've been upgraded. O Inary has been reintegrated with you, but it has another form now. Version 2.0 is able to be accessed now."
Bit's eyes widened. Version 2.0 was only on the drawing boards when he was defeated by X. It had no time to be installed. This was great!
"The Hunters won't know what hit them," he said, smirking below his shielded mouth.
Zero stood up again. It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. Sure, there was enough of an energy signature to let him know that X and the others were closeby, but there was no way to physically ascertain that.
"X?" he asked, glancing around.
"Yeah, Zero? Where are you?" X voice rebounded from somewhere in the dark.
"Is Echo near you? We need some light in here."
Echo had heard him, since the room instantly lighted itself from her arm cannon.
"You were saying?" she answered, taking in the surroundings.
There had been a teleportation system in play when everything had disappeared, and now the room they were in was clean, and Rock and the others were just beginning to stir back to life. In fact, X's predecessor was the first to stand.
"You," he said, pointing at Zero. "What do you want with us?"
"I don't want anything with you, Rock. Dr. Light explained everything to me. I was under the influence of a virus. It's gone now."
He seemed to accept that, and calmed down Roll, Proto, and Bass when they awoke.
X crossed his arms. "Alright, now how did we get here?"
Again, a light began emanating from a nearby terminal and Dr. Light's hologram appeared.
Rock was astounded. "What's going on?"
Dr. Light spoke to his second creation. "Rock, it's alright. X and Zero have been able to wake you and everyone else just perfectly. You're in 25XX now. There's been a lot that's happened since you first saw X and Zero fight each other. They need your help to eradicate the Sigma Virus. It's caused massive amounts of destruction and chaos, and although they've been able to fight it off, I fear that the coming battle will be more taxing than any before. With your help, they may be able to get rid of it, once and for all."
"But how are you talking to us? I thought Zero killed you."
"He didn't kill me. I was knocked into the vacuum containment system and trapped inside the computer systems. That's how I've survived all these years and was able to give X upgrades from time to time."
Gate was a little harder to convince. "How could you upgrade X from within the computer systems?"
"X, show him."
Immediately, a light flashed from Dr. Light's most advanced robot and he donned the Dash Armor he'd used on his first mission.
"See, Gate," X said, quickly switching to the Crush, Charge, Gold, Nova, Falcon, Gaia, Blade, Shadow, and Strike Armors. "I was upgraded."
The scientist snubbed his nose at the gesture. Turning back to Dr. Light, Rock needed some answers.
"But how can we help them? We're nowhere near as powerful as they are."
"I understand that, Rock. That is why I have been preparing a new set of armor upgrades for all of you. Unfortunately, I need more time to get every one of the armors completed, but at this time I've finished the Hyper Armor. Because of the differences between X's, Rock's, and Proto's systems and Zero's and Bass', I made sure to design two different variants that would be compatible and still provide the same benefits."
"What does it do?" Rock asked, mirroring the expression on the faces of the others.
"Well, Rock, every piece performs a different function. The leg enhancements allow a power dash that engulfs the user in energy and can be used as a weapon as well as being able to perform a multi-directional air dash and higher jumping capacity. The chest armor allows you to absorb energy from your enemies to perform the power dash or to fire a super-charged plasma shot. The cannon upgrade creates a plasma beam that can be fired as either a blast or a rapid-fire ricocheting weapon. And finally, the helmet allows the user to become invisible to radar scans."
"How do we equip it, though?" he asked.
"All you have to do, Rock, is place your hands on the levers on the terminal. Proto, you and X need to grab the levers on the sides of Rock."
Taking hold of the bars, the three robots began to feel new energy flow into their systems. Their external armor began improving itself, and changed color. Chest armor materialized on X, Rock, and Proto, as well as spiked helmets and larger arm cannons. Their leg armor changed to white, along with the rest of the armor. Gold and silver lines ran along the armor in various places, and Proto's shield was altered into a stronger metal and angular shape.
"Wow," Rock said, looking down at himself. "This is amazing."
"You and Proto now have an equal amount of plasmatics in your arm cannons. Now, Zero and Bass, step up to the terminal and take your upgrades."
Bass was unsure. "Why should I take an upgrade from you?"
Dr. Light stared at him. "Bass, I know that you were built by Wily, and that your brain tells you not to trust me, but Wily is gone and you all are in great danger. I know that with your help, the others can destroy the Sigma Virus and the onslaught that it will bring with it."
"Fine."
"There is only one thing, Bass," Dr. Light continued. "You and Rock both have the ability to bond with Rush and Treble. That ability was taken into consideration, and two programs were designed for both of you. One of them allows Rush or Treble to become a bike-like vehicle, and the other gives them the ability to independently fire upgraded weaponry. In any case, you cannot bond with them until after you activate the Armor. Otherwise, it will not work."
"Alright."
Zero was the first to latch onto the bars, followed by Bass. The energy upgrade brought the same sort of chest armor, arm cannon power, leg enhancements and stealth capabilities that Rock, X, and Proto had gained. The difference, however, was that Bass' signature helmet crests were made stronger and pointed. Zero's helmet gained two spikes to each side of the forehead crystal he had, as well as the length reaching down to his neck instead of his chin.
"Zero, your saber has been enhanced as well. You can perform the spinning razor attack now. It allows plasma to erupt from the saber and fire toward the enemy."
Zero nodded, and stepped back from the terminal. The good doctor wasn't finished.
"Rock, you and Bass both have previously acquired weapons that have been stored in the database of my systems. Here, take them to use once more."
Two spheres of energy came from the screen. The blue one merged with Rock, while the black one adhered itself to Bass.
"Good luck, all of you," Light said, and vanished from sight, leaving them in silence.
Bass turned to Rock. "You know, one thing I've never understood..."
"What?"
He pointed to his now-white former enemy. "You have hair, and I don't. And Proto has hair. Now, I hate Wily, but did he do that on purpose or something to be cruel?"
X sighed. "Bass, I've got hair too."
Removing his helmet, it seemed as though a taller, leaner version of Rock was standing right next to Zero. They had almost the same bushy brown locks and everything. It was creepy. If Proto had taken his head gear off as well, the only difference he'd have with the other two was that he was red.
"Now this really isn't fair. Wily built Zero also, and he's got hair," he said, swiveling around to face his stronger descendent.
Zero was shocked. "You call this hair?!"
Grabbing the helmet and raising it up, Zero easily proved that the assumption Bass had just made was entirely false. Sure, there was a lock of hair, but it was attached to the back of the helmet. Underneath the helmet was just Zero's neural circuitry.
"Never mind."
"Good. Glad to clear that up," Zero answered. "So how do we get outta here now?"
Rock scratched his head. "I vaguely remember this place. Dr. Light once had us take a tour of the underground computer network, and I think I can find my way out if I get the chance."
"Wait, Rock!" a small voice came from behind. The pitch was incredibly strange, and fluctuated in odd ways.
"Fliptop?" Rock said, kneeling down as the little red transport robot ran to him and jumped into his arms. "What are you doing here?"
X began slipping away from Rock and Fliptop, and closer to Zero. "Is it just me or does that thing give you the creeps?"
Zero nodded, eyes as wide as his partner's. "Yeah, a little bit."
Zero looked down the corridor for a second time. Rock had been leading them all around in circles for the last few minutes, and the usually-red Hunter was getting seriously irked.
"I could find a faster way outta here!" he exclaimed, drawing his saber.
Bass nodded. "Yeah, listen to the guy with the man breasts!"
Zero shot a look at his ancestor. "For the last time, they are energy nodes! Do I make myself clear?"
Gulping, Bass backed up a tad. "Sure. Perfectly."
That resolved, Zero went back to slinking along with the rest of the group toward a nearby emergency escape shaft adjacent to the one they'd fallen into to begin with. Luckily, it still had a working lift in it.
"Alright, everyone," Rock said, "pile in."
Stuffing themselves into the same small compartment, Bass and Zero were pushed to the back wall. The black robot was smirking and trying to suppress his hysterical laughing.
Zero crossed his arms and glared at Bass. "Just what is so funny?"
"I dunno. Did Wily hate you for some reason or something? I mean, why else would he make a male robot that needs a bra-"
His heckling was stopped when Zero grabbed Bass by the throat and slammed him against the wall of the car.
"I told you to shut up."
"Can you put me down?" Bass managed, vocals held down by Zero's strong skeletal torque.
"Alright, but only if you promise not to do that again."
"I swear," Bass replied, holding up his hand. "Scout's honor."
Letting him go, Zero backed up to where X was. Bass rubbed his neck, working his voice back to normal.
"So what size are they? A, B cup?"
Zero began to leap forward, but X and Rock were able to move quickly enough and grab the Hunter's arms to restrain him.
"Oh, c'mon X. Let me hurt him. You heard what he said."
"I don't that'd be wise, Zero. I really don't."
"I don't care X. I'm gonna kill him. And then I'm gonna kill him some more."
"Zero, think. What is a little off about Bass' appearance?" X whispered, making sure nobody else heard him.
Zero calmed down, and straightened back to normal posture. Observing Bass, he noticed the most obvious feature of his armor-the two huge crests on his head.
"No offense, Zero, but I know a few people that could recommend some really good lingerie shops. You should take a look. Buy some for your girlfriend there, and maybe some for yourself," Bass continued, chortling.
Zero crossed his arms. "Nice advice coming from someone whose head looks like a 1957 Cadillac."
Bass' eyes widened.
"Yeah, how's the mileage on your head? I bet it must be high, you've been asleep so long."
"Stop it," Bass snapped under his breath.
"Yeah, and maybe once I get that bra you were saying I need, I could string it over one of your fins and you wouldn't need any sort of disguise for Halloween. You could go as a pervert."
"Stop it now."
Zero continued taunting the black robot while the elevator slowly rose to the surface.